| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Hypertension. 2004;44:140.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.
Scientific Contributions |
From the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics (D.H.S., S.S., R.L., J.A.), Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy (D.H.S.), Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
Correspondence to Daniel H. Solomon, MD, MPH, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology, Brigham and Womens Hospital, 1620 Tremont Street, Suite 3030, Boston, MA 02120. E-mail dhsolomon{at}partners.org
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
65 years from 2 US states. Multivariable logistic models were examined to assess the relative risk of new onset hypertension requiring treatment in patients who used celecoxib or rofecoxib compared with patients taking either the other COX-2 specific inhibitor, a nonspecific NSAID, or no NSAID. During the 1999 to 2000 study period, 3915 patients were diagnosed and began treatment for hypertension; 4 controls were selected for every case. In no model was celecoxib significantly associated with the development of hypertension. Rofecoxib users were at a significantly increased relative risk of new onset hypertension compared with patients taking celecoxib (odds ratio [OR] 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 2.1), taking a nonspecific NSAID (OR 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.9), or taking no NSAID (OR 1.6; 95% CI, 1.3 to 2.0). There were no clear dosage or duration effects. In patients with a history of chronic renal disease, liver disease, or congestive heart failure, the relative risk of new onset hypertension was twice as high in those taking rofecoxib compared with celecoxib (OR 2.1; 95% CI, 1.0 to 4.3). In this retrospective case-control study of patients aged
65 years, rofecoxib use was associated with an increased relative risk of new onset hypertension; this was not seen in patients taking celecoxib.
Key Words: cyclooxygenase drug therapy hypertension, detection and control epidemiology
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The pivotal randomized controlled trials of celecoxib and rofecoxib did not establish hypertension as a major adverse effect of these agents, 7,8 but subsequent review of data from the VIoxx Gastrointestinal Outcomes Research (VIGOR) trial raised concerns in this regard9; secondary analyses of data collected from this randomized trial found that patients taking rofecoxib were twice as likely as patients taking naproxen to have elevations in blood pressure. Another controlled trial involving more than 1000 patients with osteoarthritis also found that those randomized to rofecoxib were found to more frequently have clinically significant elevations in blood pressure compared with celecoxib.10 Although both of these randomized trials establish that elevations in blood pressure may occur in subjects taking COX-2 specific inhibitors, it is not clear whether these elevations in blood pressure are large enough to prompt treatment or whether they are observed in typical clinical practice. As well, hypertension does not appear to be a widely known side effect of COX-2 specific inhibitors and is not a prominent part of product labeling.
We sought to determine whether celecoxib or rofecoxib, the 2 available COX-2 specific inhibitors during the study period, were associated with new onset hypertension in patients seen in typical community practice.
| Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
To be included in this study, participants had to be enrolled, active users of Medicare and the respective prescription drug benefit program for 2 consecutive years out of the 3-year study period, 1998 to 2000. Active use was demonstrated by presence in the program eligibility files, filling a prescription, and any health care claim in each 6-month period of the 2 consecutive years. We further required that during the first 2 consecutive study years study subjects have no prior diagnosis of hypertension (ICD-9-CM 401 to 405) and no use of any medications that are typically used to lower blood pressure. This included all antihypertensive agents from the following categories: nonloop diuretics, ß blockers, calcium-channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers,
blockers, direct vasodilators, and combination products from the above categories.
In this pool of eligible patients, new onset hypertension (case-defining event) was defined as a new diagnosis of hypertension and the filling of at least 1 prescription for 1 of the aforementioned antihypertensive agents. Four controls were randomly selected for each case using a random number generator. They were selected from all eligible patients who had not yet become cases. The date of diagnosis of hypertension was considered the index date for cases, and a randomly selected date of filling another medication was considered the index date for controls. The index dates of controls were frequency-matched to those of cases.
All patient identifiers were deleted from the study database after data sources were linked. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Brigham and Womens Hospital.
COX-2 Specific Inhibitor and Nonspecific NSAID Use
The study database contained information on all prescription drugs filled by eligible beneficiaries, including drug name, dosage, frequency, and days supply. Based on the hypothesis that the impact of specific and nonspecific NSAIDs on blood pressure was relatively rapid, we examined an exposure period from 1 to 90 days before the index date for use of celecoxib, rofecoxib, or nonspecific NSAIDs. Patients were considered exposed to these medications if they had an active prescription on the day before the index date. Patients with prescriptions for >1 of the drug categories during this time were excluded from the analyses.
Low and high dosage of the 2 available COX-2 specific inhibitors were defined a priori based on their modal dosage. For celecoxib, prescriptions were considered to be low dosage if the daily use was
200 mg and high dosage if daily dose was >200 mg. For rofecoxib, low dosage was defined as daily dose
25 mg and high dosage as >25 mg per day. We also considered 2 duration categories: 1 to 30 days ("short") and 31 to 90 days ("long").
Covariates
Covariates were defined based on data from the 12 months before the index date. Although information for most of these patients and covariates is available for longer than 12 months, we restricted the ascertainment to this period to reduce any potential for bias that might arise because of varying lengths of covariate assessment. The covariates included age, gender, race, prior hospitalization, number of visits for ambulatory care, number of comorbid medical conditions,11 use of oral glucocorticoids, coronary artery disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. The count of comorbid condition excluded congestive heart failure, renal disease, coronary artery disease, liver disease, and diabetes because these were included as separate covariates. Coronary artery disease was defined based on diagnoses or procedures indicating the presence of a myocardial infarction, angina, or coronary revascularization.
Several variables of interest were not available within the study database, including body mass index, tobacco use, and socioeconomic status. In theory, these variables could be differentially related to COX-2 specific inhibitor exposure, nonspecific NSAID exposure, and hypertension.12,13,14 We, therefore, analyzed data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey,15 a representative in-home survey with a 97% response rate conducted among 10 479 beneficiaries in 1999.16 Beneficiaries body mass index, tobacco use, and socioeconomic status were compared between those reporting use of celecoxib (n=659), rofecoxib (n=283), or a nonspecific NSAID (n=1,655). These analyses showed that body mass index was almost identical in both groups of COX-2 specific inhibitor users (celecoxib 27.5 kg/m2 versus rofecoxib 27.2 kg/m2, P=0.4) and similar to nonspecific NSAID users (27.7 kg/m2, P=0.4 versus COX-2 specific inhibitor users). Current tobacco use was similar in users of each COX-2 specific inhibitor (celecoxib 11.1% versus rofecoxib 10.3%, P=0.9) and was lower than nonspecific NSAID users (15.9%, P<0.0001 versus COX-2 specific inhibitor users). There were no differences in educational attainment (P=0.11) or income status (P=0.8) between celecoxib and rofecoxib users. Based on these findings, it is not likely that a comparison of rofecoxib versus celecoxib with regard to the incidence of hypertension is significantly biased away from the null by body mass index, current tobacco use, or socioeconomic status.
Analyses
We first examined the unadjusted relationships between each drug exposure category and new onset hypertension using contingency tables with
2 tests. Each exposure group was sequentially compared with every other category of exposure as the reference group. For example, patients taking rofecoxib were compared with 3 distinct reference groups: unexposed to any NSAID, users of nonspecific NSAIDs, and patients taking celecoxib. We then built multivariable logistic regression models by placing all potential covariates in separate models for each exposure and using backward selection with a threshold for removal of P>0.2. The only variables that did not remain in at least 1 model were the use of oral glucocorticoids and rheumatoid arthritis. All other variables were therefore used in constructing the final multivariable logistic regression models. Dosage and duration were explored in similar models where celecoxib and rofecoxib were compared with the relevant dosage or duration of the reference exposures.
Finally, we studied several subgroups of patients hypothesized a priori to be at an increased risk of COX-2 specific inhibitor-induced hypertension. COX-2 specific inhibitors are metabolized within the liver17 and, thus, we were interested whether patients with known cirrhosis would be at a higher risk of hypertension. Nonspecific NSAID hypertension is thought to be mediated by the inhibition of prostaglandin-dependent counter-regulatory mechanisms in patients with low intrarenal blood flow.3 We therefore determined whether the use of these drugs in patients with chronic renal disease or congestive heart failure, 2 conditions associated with low intravascular blood volume, increased the risk of hypertension. To test for this, we stratified the population based on chronic renal disease,18 liver disease, or congestive heart failure and then assessed exposure states in multivariable logistic regression models. All analyses were performed using SAS (SAS Institute, version 8.0).
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
The results of the multivariable logistic regression models are presented in Table 2. Rofecoxib use was associated with a significantly increased relative risk of new onset hypertension compared with patients taking celecoxib (odds ratio [OR] 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 2.1), taking a nonspecific NSAID (OR 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.9), or taking no NSAID (OR 1.6; 95% CI, 1.3 to 2.0). Celecoxib was not associated with an increased relative risk of new onset hypertension in any of these models.
|
There did not appear to be a clear dose or duration relationship between either COX-2 specific inhibitor and new onset hypertension (Table 3). There was no difference in relative risk between low- and high-dosage celecoxib or rofecoxib compared with the low- and high-dosage reference groups, or between short and long duration use of celecoxib and the respective reference groups. Long duration rofecoxib was associated with a slightly higher risk (OR 1.5; 95% CI, 1.0 to 2.1) than short duration rofecoxib (OR 1.1; 95% CI, 0.7 to 2.0) when compared with nonspecific NSAIDs. Similar trends were seen when rofecoxib use of long duration (OR 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.2) and short duration (OR 1.3; 95% CI, 0.8 to 2.3) were compared with celecoxib.
|
In the clinical subgroups shown in Table 4, patients with chronic renal disease who took rofecoxib appeared to be at a higher relative risk for developing new onset hypertension than patients taking celecoxib (OR 5.3; 95% CI, 0.6 to 43.7), although with a wide CI because of the relatively small number of patients. The presence of congestive heart failure did not appear to identify a subgroup at significantly increased risk for COX-2 specific inhibitor-associated hypertension. There were too few patients with liver disease to estimate the relative risks of hypertension. When all strata were combined (renal disease, liver disease, or congestive heart failure), patients taking rofecoxib had a relative risk of new onset hypertension that was more than 2-fold higher than that seen in comparable patients taking celecoxib (OR 2.1; 95% CI, 1.0 to 4.3).
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
These findings are consistent with the findings from randomized trials in smaller groups of patients receiving protocolized care. Data from the VIGOR trial comparing rofecoxib to naproxen suggested the possibility that rofecoxib may be associated with an increased frequency of clinically significant hypertension. In secondary analyses available from the Food and Drug Administration,9 subjects taking rofecoxib had a 3.6 mm increase in systolic blood pressure compared with naproxen users. This translated into a 9.7% rate of hypertension as an adverse event in subjects randomized to rofecoxib compared with 5.5% in those randomized to naproxen. Data from the Celecoxib Long-term Arthritis Safety Study (CLASS) trial suggest that the rates of hypertension in celecoxib users were about equal to patients using nonspecific NSAIDs, 2.7% versus 3.4%.7 Comparison of these data are limited by diverse study populations and slightly different definitions of hypertension. However, another study compared the blood pressure effects of celecoxib to rofecoxib in a head-to-head randomized controlled trial.10 More than 1000 patients with osteoarthritis and stable hypertension were recruited and followed for 6 weeks with blood pressure measurements at baseline and at weeks 1, 2, and 6. Subjects were randomized to receive celecoxib 200 mg per day or rofecoxib 25 mg per day, the most common dosages used of these medicines. During the study, 14.9% of subjects using rofecoxib reached the criteria for worsening systolic hypertension with at least a 20 mm increase in blood pressure. This compared with 6.9% of subjects taking celecoxib (P<0.001). Diastolic blood pressure changes were not significantly different.
These findings must be interpreted in light of the studys limitations, many of which are common to studies that use health care claims databases. It is possible that doctors diagnosed hypertension and prescribed antihypertensive medications differentially to patients taking different NSAIDs and COX-2 specific inhibitors. Because this study used data from 1999 to 2000, a time before published data regarding possible differences in these agents, we think this is very unlikely. Medications used for hypertension are used for many other indications, including congestive heart failure and angina, so that we may have misclassified some patients as having hypertension who did not. We applied conservative definitions requiring a diagnosis of hypertension as well as use of medications that lower the blood pressure. These definitions were applied equally across all relevant exposures. Hence, if there was substantial nondifferential misclassification, it would have biased all findings toward the null. The study database does not include use of over-the-counter medications, such as several nonspecific NSAIDs. However, use of these agents is less common than prescription agents in a lower income population with full drug coverage, such as the one studied. As well, it would be unlikely that use of over-the-counter nonspecific NSAIDs occurred differentially across the two COX-2 specific inhibitor groups. Other unmeasured factors may confound these results. We did examine several potential confounders in a different Medicare cohort (such as body mass index, tobacco use, and socioeconomic status) and found that the bias would have been toward the null in comparisons between COX-2 specific inhibitors and nonspecific NSAIDs. However, there is the possibility for residual confounding. Finally, the study cohorts included only patients enrolled in a drug benefit program for low-to-moderate income elderly. It will be important for hypertension to be studied in other populations taking these agents.
It is not clear why there may be differences in the effect on blood pressure between rofecoxib and celecoxib. These effects may be specific to the individual molecular structure of the 2 different molecules,19 but this issue needs further examination so that the safety of these agents can be improved. Data from rat models of hypertension suggest that celecoxib but not rofecoxib may be associated with improvements in endothelial function and reductions in oxidative stress, but this finding has not been reported in all studies.5,6 There are other examples of specific agents in a medication class with distinct side effect risks, such as bromfenac, a nonspecific NSAID, with a higher than typical risk of hepatoxicity20 and cerivastatin, a lipid-lowering agent that is associated with rhabdomyolysis at increased rates compared with other statins.21
Perspectives
We found that rofecoxib was associated with an increased relative risk of new onset hypertension requiring treatment compared with celecoxib, nonspecific NSAIDs, and no NSAID. This relative risk appeared to be increased for patients taking rofecoxib who also had renal disease, liver disease, or congestive heart failure. Although this study cannot prove causality, it adds significant new information about the risk of hypertension requiring treatment for patients taking rofecoxib seen in typical practice.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
Received February 20, 2004; first decision March 18, 2004; accepted May 11, 2004.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
S. D. Solomon, J. Wittes, P. V. Finn, R. Fowler, J. Viner, M. M. Bertagnolli, N. Arber, B. Levin, C. L. Meinert, B. Martin, et al. Cardiovascular Risk of Celecoxib in 6 Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials: The Cross Trial Safety Analysis Circulation, April 22, 2008; 117(16): 2104 - 2113. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G. P. Joshi, R. Gertler, and R. Fricker Cardiovascular Thromboembolic Adverse Effects Associated with Cyclooxygenase-2 Selective Inhibitors and Nonselective Antiinflammatory Drugs Anesth. Analg., December 1, 2007; 105(6): 1793 - 1804. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
T. Klein, M. Eltze, T. Grebe, A. Hatzelmann, and M. Komhoff Celecoxib dilates guinea-pig coronaries and rat aortic rings and amplifies NO/cGMP signaling by PDE5 inhibition Cardiovasc Res, July 15, 2007; 75(2): 390 - 397. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Oitate, T. Hirota, M. Takahashi, T. Murai, S.-i. Miura, A. Senoo, T. Hosokawa, T. Oonishi, and T. Ikeda Mechanism for Covalent Binding of Rofecoxib to Elastin of Rat Aorta J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., March 1, 2007; 320(3): 1195 - 1203. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. B. White Cardiovascular Effects of the Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors Hypertension, March 1, 2007; 49(3): 408 - 418. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Chaiamnuay, J. J. Allison, and J. R. Curtis Risks versus benefits of cyclooxygenase-2-selective nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., October 1, 2006; 63(19): 1837 - 1851. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. D. Solomon, M. A. Pfeffer, J. J.V. McMurray, R. Fowler, P. Finn, B. Levin, C. Eagle, E. Hawk, M. Lechuga, A. G. Zauber, et al. Effect of Celecoxib on Cardiovascular Events and Blood Pressure in Two Trials for the Prevention of Colorectal Adenomas Circulation, September 5, 2006; 114(10): 1028 - 1035. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Oitate, T. Hirota, K. Koyama, S.-i. Inoue, K. Kawai, and T. Ikeda COVALENT BINDING OF RADIOACTIVITY FROM [14C]ROFECOXIB, BUT NOT [14C]CELECOXIB OR [14C]CS-706, TO THE ARTERIAL ELASTIN OF RATS Drug Metab. Dispos., August 1, 2006; 34(8): 1417 - 1422. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. C. Amrite, S. P. Ayalasomayajula, N. P. S. Cheruvu, and U. B. Kompella Single Periocular Injection of Celecoxib-PLGA Microparticles Inhibits Diabetes-Induced Elevations in Retinal PGE2, VEGF, and Vascular Leakage. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., March 1, 2006; 47(3): 1149 - 1160. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
F. H. Messerli Aspirin: A Novel Antihypertensive Drug?: Or Two Birds With One Stone? J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., September 20, 2005; 46(6): 984 - 985. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Hermann, H. Krum, and F. Ruschitzka To the Heart of the Matter: Coxibs, Smoking, and Cardiovascular Risk Circulation, August 16, 2005; 112(7): 941 - 945. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. P. Johnsen, H. Larsson, R. E. Tarone, J. K. McLaughlin, B. Norgard, S. Friis, and H. T. Sorensen Risk of Hospitalization for Myocardial Infarction Among Users of Rofecoxib, Celecoxib, and Other NSAIDs: A Population-Based Case-Control Study Arch Intern Med, May 9, 2005; 165(9): 978 - 984. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Steffel, M. Hermann, H. Greutert, S. Gay, T. F. Luscher, F. Ruschitzka, and F. C. Tanner Celecoxib Decreases Endothelial Tissue Factor Expression Through Inhibition of c-Jun Terminal NH2 Kinase Phosphorylation Circulation, April 5, 2005; 111(13): 1685 - 1689. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Finckh and M. D. Aronson Cardiovascular Risks of Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors: Where We Stand Now Ann Intern Med, February 1, 2005; 142(3): 212 - 214. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Hermann, S. Shaw, E. Kiss, G. Camici, N. Buhler, R. Chenevard, T. F. Luscher, H. J. Grone, and F. Ruschitzka Selective COX-2 Inhibitors and Renal Injury in Salt-Sensitive Hypertension Hypertension, February 1, 2005; 45(2): 193 - 197. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. R. Sowers, W. B. White, B. Pitt, A. Whelton, L. S. Simon, N. Winer, A. Kivitz, H. van Ingen, T. Brabant, J. G. Fort, et al. The Effects of Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors and Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Therapy on 24-Hour Blood Pressure in Patients With Hypertension, Osteoarthritis, and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Arch Intern Med, January 24, 2005; 165(2): 161 - 168. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Taking stock of coxibs DTB, January 1, 2005; 43(1): 1 - 6. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. A. Grover, L. Coupal, and H. Zowall Treating Osteoarthritis With Cyclooxygenase-2-Specific Inhibitors: What Are the Benefits of Avoiding Blood Pressure Destabilization? Hypertension, January 1, 2005; 45(1): 92 - 97. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. B. White Hypertension Associated With Therapies to Treat Arthritis and Pain Hypertension, August 1, 2004; 44(2): 123 - 124. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Hypertension Home | Subscriptions | Archives | Feedback | Authors | Help | AHA Journals Home | Search Copyright © 2004 American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited. |